Windmill.



No. 7|3,s2o. Patented Nov. la,- |902.

c. wALL.

WINDMILL.

lication led Ma. 15

(. N u H o d e l 4 S h e e t s S h e e i l.

No. 7|3,820. Patented Nov. I8, |902.

C. WALL.

WINDMILL.

(Application led Muy 15, 1902.) (No Model.) g 4Sheet's-$heet 2.

m wams PETERS co. Pubau'ruo., wAsNmaYon n c Patented Nov. I8, |902.

C. WALL.

WINDMILL.

Application led May 15, 1902.,

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c. w'A|.l.. V WINDIIILL. [Application med'xy 15, 1902.)`

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(No Model.)

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elktoznujn limiten Freres PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES IVALL, OF ALEXANDRIA, MINNESOTA.

WINDIVILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 713,820, dated November 18, 1902.

Application filed May 15. 1902. Serial lIo. 107,485. (No model.)

To aZ whom t may concern.-

Beit known thatLCHARLES VVALL,acitizen of the United States, residing at Alexandria, in the county of Douglas and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Windmills; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention has relation to improvements in windmills, and has for its object to provide a self-governing windmill in which the speed of the Wheel is automatically controlled and safety and uniformness of action 'insured under all conditions of service, and,

further, to provide a windmill which combines simplicity of construction with strength, durability, ease of action, and maximum power and efficiency.

With this and other objects in view, which will readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, said invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combination and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described, defined in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a windmill embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a top plan view. Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the wheel on line 4 e of Fig. 8. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on about line 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section through the hub and spindle looking toward the loose gearwheel. Fig. 7 is a detail view illustrating the operation of throwing the fans into and out of the wind, the parts appearing in the two positions in full and broken lines. Fig. 8 is a sectional view through the hub, spindle, and loose gear-wheel on a greatly enlarged scale. Fig. 9 shows a modified form of governor. Fig. 10 is a detail view showing a modification in the construction of the wheel. Fig. ll is a vertical section through the casting 5 and upper portion of the tower on the line 11 l1 of Fig. 5.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral l represents a tower or frame for supporting the working parts of the machine. This tower or frame is provided at top with a stand or tu rn-table 2, from which projects a hollow or tubular axle or spindle 3, on which turns the box or bearing-hub 4 of the casting 5, which su pports the wheel. This casting has a bearing extending up from the hub 4: and in which is journaled the upper end of a power-transmitting shaft 7, journaled at its lower end at the base of the frame. The shaft 7 is provided with a clutch-gearing S, whereby it may be thrown into and out of gear with the machine or device to be driven, and it is also provided with a hand-wheel 9 0r equivalent means to adapt it to be turned to throw the wind-wheel in and out of operation, as hereinafter described. The bearing 6 is preferably lformed with a removable part 6, ad justably secured to the fixed part 6b thereof, so as to permit of shims being inserted between the same to compensate for wear when occasion requires. The clutch-gearing 8 consists of a clutch-collar 8, loose on shaft 7 and adapted to be engaged by a sliding clutch-collar 8b, feathered to said shaft, said Collardb being moved into and out of engagement with the collar 8 by a shipper bar or lever 8c, acting upon abell-crank lever 8d, havinga forked end engagingagroove in the collar 8b. When the two collars 8 8b are out of engagement, as shown in Fig. 2, the shaft 7 may rotate independently of collar Sa; but when the two collars are connected the collar 8 will be clutched by collar 8b to the shaft and caused to turn therewith. The collar S may be geared up with suitable mechanism to transmit motion to any kind of machinery which is to be operated by the windmill. In the present instance I have shown the clutch-collar ElL provided with a gear Se, engaging a pinion 8f, the latter designed to transmit motion through suitable connections to the part to be driven.

The wind-wheel comprises in its construction a central hub or sleeve l0, inner and outer concentric rims 11 11a, the fans orsails 12, and spoke-rods 13, suitably connected to and rigidly uniting said hub and rims. The sails 12 are pivoted at the points le and 15 to the two rims and have a limited swing or 0scillation to adapt them to be thrown into and out` of position to be acted on by the wind and are connected to move in unison by links 16. Springs 17 connect the sails in pairs at intervals and serve to normally hold the blades IOO out of action, each spring being connected at one end to a side edge of'one of the sails and at its opposite end to the diametrically opposite side edge of the other sail, so as to extend diagonally between the sails and exert its energy to swing the blades to a position at right angles to-the wheel, in which position the)T are inoperative. Two, three, or more springs may be employed, and all the sails are moved in unison thereby through the medium of the connecting-links 16.

f the inner end of the hub are antifriction-rollers 23, which are held from outward displacement by the shoulder 22, and threaded upon the reduced end of the spindle is a nut 24, which holds the hub from outward movement. The inner face of this nut forms a double-cone surface coacting with a ring 25 upon the interior of the outer end of the hub to form a cup or raceway for two sets or annular rows of antifriction-balls 26 27. By this construction of the parts the hub is mounted to turn freely on the spindle with a minimum degree of friction.

A ring-shaped brake-shoe 28 slides on the smooth surface of the reduced portion of the.

spindle 18 and is adapted to frictionally engage the tapered portion 21 of the spindle. This shoe is pressed toward said tapered portion 21 by a spring 29, confined between the shoe and ring 25, and is provided with apertured lugs 30, projecting to the exterior through slots 30', formed in the hub 10. Connected to these lugs are links or arms 31, formed with curved outer ends 32, tted to slide through the apertures in the lugs, and with contact-shoulders 33 to bear upon said lugs. The arms are jointed or pivotally connected to a gear-wheel 34, which is loosely mounted to turn upon the hub 10 and is limited in its rotary movements by stopshoulders 35 35', formed thereon, which are adapted to abut against a stop-pin 36, fixed to said hub. Meshing with this gear-wheel is aspur-pinion 37, mounted upon one end of a shaft 38, journaled in a bearing 39 on the casting 5, which shaft carries at its opposite end a bevel-gear 4, engaging a similar gear 41 upon the upper end of the shaft 7. By loosely mounting the gear 34 on the hub 10 and providing the shoulders 35 35l and stoppin 36 a clutch connection between the gear and hub 10 is formed, whereby the gear is permitted to turn to a limited extent, so that motion 'may be communicated therefrom to control the action of the brake-shoe 28 and throw the sails 12 in or out of the wind, as hereinafter described. When the sails are out of action, the shoulder 35 abuts against the pin 36 and the arms or links 3l lie at an angle to the sleeve 10, while the brake-shoe 28 is held in engagement with the tapered part 21 of the fixed spindle 18 by the action of the spring 29; but when the gear 34 is turned to bring the shoulder 35 into contact with the pin 36 the sails, as hereinafter described, are thrown out of the wind and the links 31 are straightened out, whereby the contact-shoulders 33 are brought into engagement with the lugs 30, thereby causing the brake-shoe 28 to be retracted or moved out of engagement with the tapered portion 21 of the spindle 18 under the movement of said gearwheel, leaving the wheel free to revolve upon said spindle. The sails are thrown into and out of action by the movement of the gear-wheel in one direction or the other and automatically controlled through the instrumentality of the following connections: Slidably connected to the outer rim 11a at points equidistant around the circumference of the wheel are sliding governor-weights 37', each of which is connected at its outer end to the two adjoining sails'by links 38 in such manner that the outward movement of the weight will cause the sails to feather and close, while the inward movement of the weight will cause said sails to open. The inner ends of the weights are, on the other hand, connected to the gear-wheel 34 by links 39 in such manner as to adapt the weights to be moved by the turning of the wheel or the wheel to be moved by the reciprocation of the weights. By this means, as will be clear from the following description of the operation, the sails may be thrown into and out of the wind to start and stop the wheel by moving the gear 34 and will be automatically controlled by the movement of the weights under centrifugal force to regulate the speed of the wheel.

It will be seen that as shaft 7 is in gear with gear-wheel 34 through the train of gears 37, 40, and 41 and shaft 38 the rotation of the shaft in one direction or the other by the hand-wheel 9 will cause the gear-wheel 34 to turn on the hub, and thereby throw the sails into and out of the wind and the clutch into and out of action, and that this train of gearing will also transmit motion to said shaft 7 when the wind-wheel is in operation, so that the power derived from the action of the wheel may be utilized to drive other machinery. When the wheel is out of gear, stopshoulder 35 is engaged by pin 36 and the brake device 28 is engaged with tapered portion 21 ofspindle 18 and holds the wind-Wheel from movement. To throw the wheel into action,

it is simply necessary to turn shaft 7 by means of hand-wheel 9, so as to rotate gearwheel34 to move stop 35 away from pin 36 and. bring stop 35 into engagement with said pin, whereby the links 39 are drawn inward IOO IIO

and spread the sails l2, while the links 31 are straightened out and move brake device 2S out of engagement with the tapered portion 21 of the spindle. The wind-wheel will then swing around to bring the sails into the wind in the usual way and rotate the wheel to the right in Fig. 1, and as in the rotation of said wheel the gear-wheel 34 is connected b y stop 35 and pin 36 to rigidly rot-ate with hub lO motion will be transferred to shaft 7 through the train of gears 37, 40, and 4l and from said shaft may be transmitted to drive machinery. The pressure of the wind on the sails and the resistance of shaft 7 and the gearing prevent the centrifugal weights 37' and springs 29 from feathering the sails and applying the brake at normal speeds. lVhen, however, the speed of the wheel becomes eX- cessive, this resistance is overcome and the weights 37l move outward and draw upon links 39 to move gear-wheel 34 in the reverse direction, thus again bringing stop 35 into engagement with pin 3o and retracting links 3l, so as to allow spring 29 to throw the brake device 28 into action.

Assuming that the wheel is out of operation, in which case the stop-shoulder 35 abuts against the pin 36 and the brake device 28 is in engagement with the tapered portion 2l of the spindle 18 and holds the wheel from rotation, it will be readily understood that upon turning the hand-wheel in the proper direction the shaft 7 may be turned to communicate motion to the gear-wheel 34 to turn said wheel to a position in which the stop-shoulder 35 abuts against the pin 36. This movement of the gear-wheel causes the links^3l to be straightened out, whereby the brake 28 is retracted against the pressure of the spring 29, leaving the wheel free to rotate, and also causes the links 39 to be drawn inward, so as to transmit motion to the links 38/ through the weights 37 to throw the sails l2, partially or wholly, out into the wind against the tension of the springs 17, whereupon the action of the wind forces the wheel to swing horizontally around to the proper position and to rotate the spindle 18, whereby motion is transmitted to the shaft 7through the gearing between said shaft and the wheel 34. In case of a strong gale, by which the velocity of the wheel would be too great, the centrifugal force thus brought into action will cause the weights 37 to move outward from the center to agreater or less extent, according to the strength of the Wind-currents, whereby the sails will be partially or wholly closed to present less surface and less resistance to the wind or to entirely arrest the motion of the wheel, and at the same time the reverse action of the gear 34 willcause the brake to be applied, thereby avoiding liability of injury to the windmill. Thus the Wheel will be controlled to run substantially at a regular or uniform rate of speed, preventing liability of overheating of the bearings and consequent danger of setting fire to the tower and adjacent buildings. When it is desired to throw the wheel out of action the hand-wheel 9 is turned in the reverse direction to that previously described, whereupon the gear-wheel 34 will be moved back to its original position` in which the shoulder 35 contacts with the pin 36, and the sails are thrown out of the wind and the brake automatically applied to hold the wheel from rotation.

By means of my invention it will be seen that the power-transmitting d evices also serve i as means whereby the windmill maybe started and stopped at pleasure.

From the rear of the casting 5 extends an arm 40', stayed by a suitable brace 4l', and provided at its outer end with a bearing 42. In this bearing and the casting the ends of a shaft 43 are journaled, and this shaft is provided at-its inner end with a pinion 44, engaging au annular rack 45 on the turn-table 2 and carrying at its outer end a Weight 46. This weight balances and steadies the wheel and rotates with the shaft, thus increasing the resistance and preventing the wheel from iiying around too rapidly when thrown into and out of action.

Fig. 9 shows a construction of variable speed governor which may be used in place of the ordinary governor-weight. In this construction the rod 39' is connected at its outer end to a yoke or sleeve 47,-which receves the inner end of a weight 37a, which slides loosely through a plate 48, xed to the outer end of the yoke. The inner end of the Weight carries a cross-head 49, and surrounding the weight between this cross-head and the plate 48 is a coil-spring 50, which exerts a resistance tothe outward movement of the weight. The tension of the spring may be increased or diminished by the cross-head 49, which is slidably adjustable on the weight and secured in place bymeans of a split key 51, adapted to be passed through either one of a series of openings 52 in said weight. The weight is adapted to be connected at its outer end to the links 38' inthe manner heretofore described, and the operation is the same as that previously set forth except that through the medium of the spring and crosshead the action of the governor may be regulated as desired.

Fig. 10 shows a modification in the construction of the wheel-frame, wherein the inner and outer rims are formed in sections 53 53, having ears 54 54' at their ends, and the spokes are each in the form of V-shaped arms 55, carrying a central bridge-plate 56. The branches of the inner end of each arm are properly formed for connection with the central sleeve, and said arm is connected with the rim-sections by bolts 57 57', the former passing through the reduced outer end of the arm and ears 54 and the latter through the plate 56 and ears 54, thus connecting the parts ICO IIO

together. This construction is advantageous in that it permits of the wheel being quickly put up and taken down and packed in compact form for shipment.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought that the construction, mode of operation, and advantages of my improved windmill will be readily apparent Without requiring a more extendedV explanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor ldetails of construction may be resorted to Without departing from the priuciple or sacrificing any of the advantages of.

this invention.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a wind-Wheel, a suitable support carrying a spindle, a Wheel having ah'ub adapted to rotate on the spindle and carrying feathering sails, a brake device carried by the hub of the Wheel and adapted to engage the spindle, and means for controlling the sails and brake device, substantially in the manner described.

2. In a Wind-wheel, a suitable support carrying a spindle, a wheel having a hub adapted to rotate on the spindle and carrying feathering sails, a brake device carried by the hub of the Wheel and adapted to engage the spindle, a governor controlling the sails, and an operating device connected to the brake device and governor, substantially as specified.

3. In a wind-Wheel, a suitable support carrying a spindle, a wheel having a hub adapted to rotate on the spindle and carrying feathering sails, a brake device carried by the hub of the wheel and adapted to engage the spindle, a governor controlling the sails, an operating device connected to the brake device and governor, and manually-operated means for actuating said operatingdevice, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.y

4. In a wind-wheel, a suitable support carrying a spindle, a wheel mounted to rotate upon the spindle, feathering sails upon the Wheel, governors on the Wheel automatically controlling said sails, a brake device on the hub of the Wheel to engage said spindle, a gear loosely mounted on the hub and connected to the governors and brake device, means limiting the movement of the gear, and means for receiving motion from and transmitting motion to the gear, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES WALL. 

